Ikea will save 6,000 tons of CO2 emissions each year thanks to solar energy

June 15th, 2012by Sara Pernas

Swedish company IKEA has announced its plans to install solar photovoltaic panels on all its buildings in China over the next three years, as part of its goal to only use renewable energy to power its facilities.

Once finished, the solar panels installations will provide up to 15% of the electricity needed in all the IKEA stores, as well as 100% of its distribution centers in China, larger buildings that require less energy. As a result, the home furnishing company will save around 6,000 of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

Solar panels installed in IKEA store in the United States

And if all this wasn’t enough, the solar panels will also be provided to the company’s suppliers in China. “Not only will we harness the sun to help power our stores and other buildings across China, but we will also extend the scope of the project over the coming year to our supply base across the country, enabling them to utilize an affordable and reliable supply of clean energy,” said Steve Howard, chief sustainability officer of Ikea.

But this is not the first time IKEA bets on renewables. With more than a half of its buildings around the world being currently powered by wind and solar energy, the company has already invested around 470 million euros in 250,000 solar panels and 80 wind turbines.

Hanergy Holding Group, a major privately owned power generation company in China with a solar production capacity of over 2000 megawatts, will be responsible for the engineering, procurement construction and installation of the solar panels on Ikea buildings in China.